By Allan Fox: Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez is being matched tough in the first defense of his newly won WBC super flyweight title on June 25th against knockout artist Srisaket Sor Rungvisai at the Tech Port Arena in San Antonio, Texas.
If this fight goes badly for Bam Rodriguez, someone in his team is going to need to take the blame for the decision to match him against the elite contender Rungivisai.
This is a fighter with two wins over Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez and a victory over Juan Francisco Estrada. Bam Rodriguez wouldn’t beat those guys, even now with both in their early 30s.
Interestingly, Rodriguez’s fans think Rungvisai is old & shot. It’s unclear whether they got that notion because he’s looked very impressive in his last six fights, and is punching harder than ever.
The 22-year-old Bam Rodriguez (15-0, 10 KOs) recently won the vacant WBC super flyweight title with a win over Carlos Cuadras on February 5th.
Rodriguez was brought in as a replacement at the last minute after Rungvisai had to pull out of his main event fight against the 33-year-old Cuadras, and not surprisingly, he beat him.
Before pulling out of the fight last February, the two-time former WBC 115-lb champion Rungvisai (50-5-1, 43 KOs) was expected to crush the shopworn Cuadras, who hasn’t looked like the fighter he once was since losing to Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez in 2o16.
Bam Rodriguez’s brother is Joshua Franco, who holds the WBA ‘regular’ super flyweight title. Like Bam, Franco is a finesse-level fighter with average power. He wins his fight by outboxing and outworking his opponents. Bam is the same way.
Bam Rodriguez is now signed with Eddie Hearn and his Matchroom Boxing stable, and the promoter is really high on him. It’s nice that Hearn believes in Bam, but that’s not going to help him when he gets in the ring with Rungvisai on June 25th.
“Jesse might be the youngest current World champion, but this is a fight where he can prove he already belongs with the very best in boxing,” said trainer Robert Garcia.
“We have a lot of respect for Rungvisai, we know what he is capable of, and he is a great, great fighter but I also know what Jesse is capable of. I have so much belief in him, and I know he is ready for this.”
Rungvisai’s last eight opponents:
- Kwanthai Sithmorseng
- Jomar Fajardo
- Amnat Ruenroeng
- Juan Francisco Estrada x 2
- Young Gil Bae
- Iran Diaz
- Roman Gonzalez
